Slot machines have been a dominant part of the gaming industry world wide for over 50 years. While pachinko machines have seen a great deal of popularity in Asia, they are not as well suited for gaming as the traditional slot machine.
Slot machines have changed very little over the years. Whether mechanical or electronic, they still have reels spinning and coming to stop on a potential jackpot. It appears that a large part of the appeal of slot machines is the "mechanical" nature of the spinning reels which induces a belief in players that they are witnesses to a truly random event and that the "big" jackpot is always just around the corner. While the big jackpot may or may not be just around the corner, slot machines maintain a very accurate payout percentage, usually 92 to 99 percent with the house retaining the rest as profit.
The public perception and reaction to slot machines is a critical part of their acceptance and the perception of the fairness of the machine. When slot machines with video displays showing simulated reels were introduced, the public rejected them in favor of the older slot machines with mechanical reels. Even though the new machines simulated the mechanical slots in every way and used the same random number generating circuit and yielded the same percentages as the mechanical slot machines, they were less attractive to the gaming public.
The biggest problem with the mechanical or electronic slot machines that have mechanical reels is that they have higher mechanical maintenance costs than machines with video displays in place of spinning reels. While prior art machines that replaced the spinning reels with video displays had lower mechanical maintenance costs, they were also less attractive to gamers.
Another problem with traditional slot machines is their size, due to the space requirements of the mechanical reels. Traditional slot machines take up a great deal of floor space and are generally not well suited to being wall mounted. Smaller machines would allow the machines' owners to generate more revenue per square foot. The option of wall mounting a machine is attractive because this allows greater flexibility in the placement of machines.
Yet another problem with traditional slot machines is that the limited number of possible combinations of symbols limits the size of a jackpot that can be offered. In an effort to overcome this limitation and to provide larger jackpots, gaming establishments link multiple machines together in order to offer a progressive jackpot. This is relatively complicated and requires greater costs in setting up and operating the machines.
It is common for the patrons of slot machines and other gaming devices to look for large jackpots in order to win big and make a fortune. Although the progressive slot machines have addressed some of this interest, there are some who are not drawn to this approach. There is still a strong interest in the casino industry for slot machines or similar gaming machines which can offer large jackpots but still provide the consistent entertainment value and steady operation of slot machines, but without the expense and trouble of progressive slot systems. Thus there is a continuing need for improved slot machines which can offer greater combinations of events and greater jackpot amounts.
Finally, the very randomness which makes slot machines attractive also deters some people from playing them because they do not perceive there to be any skill involved in playing the game. Additionally, some people are looking for a more interactive experience than is provided by traditional slot machines. Too much interactivity, such as that involved with video and pinball games, would slow down the cycle rate of the machines to an unacceptable level.
There is a demand for a gaming machine that is as attractive to gamers as slot machines but at lower mechanical maintenance costs. There is a further demand for a gaming machine which would allow for the chance at a large jackpot with a small investment without having to link together multiple machines. There is yet a further demand for a gaming machine which creates a perception of skill while maintaining an accurate payout percentage and a fast cycle rate.